The Importance of Friends
by pink snowflake
Summary: This story is under a new title because I was having some technical difficulties.
1. Default Chapter

A Sleepless Night  
  
Harry woke to the loud snores of his cousin, Dudley.

"Why can't I ever wake up to the bird's chirping?" he grumbled as he got out of bed. He

now had to share the room with his cousin because Dudley had fallen out of his bed the other

night with the result of part of the ceiling caving in.

Harry snickered at the memory as he looked at Dudley's new "bed." It was a mattress on

the floor. Uncle Vernon was afraid of Dudley falling again and causing another "small

earthquake," as he had explained to the neighbors, so he figured the closer Dudley was to the

floor, the better.

Of course now Harry had to sleep on only a mattress too, he couldn't have anything more

then Dudley. The only thing stopping the Dursley's from making Harry sleep only on a blanket

was Moody's threat.

As Harry began to wake up a little more, he noticed it was still extremely dark out. He

glanced at the clock which read 2:01. "Oh this is just great," he thought, "There's no way I'm

gonna get back to sleep with the Atomic Snorer over there." At the moment, Dudley gave a

particularly loud snort. Harry shook his head, disgusted. "Oh well, might as well write to Ron

and Hermione," he said to no one in particular.

Just as he was about to drop his quill into the ink there was a loud explosion downstairs.

............................................................................................................

Harry jumped to his feet and ran to his trunk in the corner. He rummaged through it until he

found what he needed. His wand. As he was opening the door he heard his uncle shout, "Who's

there?!" In response there was a loud, cruel laugh.

Harry's heart stopped. He knew that laugh, he had heard it at the ministry two months ago:

Lestrange. Hearing her laugh opened the floodgates Harry had used to keep the painful

memories back. Now they streamed into his head as if he was watching a movie: Hermione

telling him not to go because it might be a trap, his friends following him into needless danger, the

prophesy breaking, Hermione being hit with a potentially lethal curse, Sirus dying...

"NOOOO!" he screamed. He ran down the stairs in a blind rage. "You'll pay Lestrange!"

"I'll pay what, Potter?" she sneered, "I was doing my family a favor, he was a bad apple."

"Shut up!" Harry yelled with surprising force. His aunt and uncle were standing on the top

landing taking in the exchange. Dudley was amazingly still snoring away muttering something

about dancing horses in tutus.

"Don't you dare talk about Sirus like that! He was ten times better than you anyday." Harry

had kept all this locked inside him for two months and it was all coming out at once.

"Aw, Potter, come on now. We both know it was your fault he died. If you hadn't been so

bent on playing the hero, Sirus would still be here today. I really must thank you by the way."

She leered at him. She was expecting him to break down now, for all the guilt that had been

eating away at his conscience all summer to resurface and make him vulnerable. The problem

was none of this happened.

When Harry first came back to the Dursley's after school got out he did start to blame

himself, but Hermione put a stop to that right away. She wrote him letter after letter telling him

not to blame himself, and she reminded him over and over again of all the good he had done.

Harry thought of these letters and gained strength. You're gonna have to think of some new

tactics, Lestrange. These aren't gonna work." He took a step towards her.

She looked flustered. She was not supposed to physically harm the boy. Her orders were

to tear Harry apart from the inside out. Now that he didn't blame himself, she had no ammo.

Suddenly she smirked. "Well, well, it seems your friends have helped you get through again.

Whatever are you going to do when they're not around?" she feigned concern. She then

apparated leaving a horror struck Harry to think of what she had.

............................................................................................................

Harry stood there for a minute until the small voice of his aunt brought him back to earth.

"Harry? Are you ok?" It was the first time she had ever said anything to him

without a smart comment attatched.  
  
Harry turned to look at her. "I don't know," was all he said. He walked passed them and

into his room. Dudley, thank goodness had rolled onto his stomach, smothering his snores

slightly. Harry needed to think. "What have I done now? She's gonna go after Hermione and

Ron now. I have to tell them somehow." He knew writing to them would take way too long.

"Think, Harry, think!" he yelled at himself.

Dudley suddenly kicked out in his sleep and hit Harry's trunk. "Idiot," He thought. Just then

something rolled out from under the trunk. "That's it, my broom!" Harry could've hugged

Dudley, he was so happy. He quickly extinguished the thought, "I might get lost in there," he

looked at Dudley's "baby fat" as Aunt Petunia liked to call it.

He was about to fly out the window when he remembered his aunt's concern a couple of

minutes ago. "Might as well let them know where I'm going," he thought. He walked back out

his door and down the stairs. He found them in the kitchen making some strong tea. "Um, I just

wanted to let you know I have to go. I'll be back in a couple of days." He said not used to

talking civilized to them.

"Ok," Uncle Vernon grunted.

Harry turned to leave, but stopped when he heard Aunt Petunia.

"Harry,"

"Yea?" he asked nervously. The last thing he needed was to end up in a screaming match.

"Be careful." She turned and walked out of the room. Uncle Vernon followed her with a

strange look on his face.

Harry was left looking stunned. He had no idea what was going on. He shook himself from

his thoughts remembering his friends were in danger. He walked out the front door and went out

back. There, he mounted his broom and kicked off, thankful there was no moon tonight. "Hold

on, Hermione and Ron, I'm

coming." ............................................................................................................

AN: Alright let me know what you thought of this please!! You can give me suggestions to make it better or just tell me what you think.


	2. Disclaimer

Disclaimer:  
  
I forgot to put this at the beginning so here goes: I own nothing of JK Rowlings. 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A Sleepless Night Cont.

As Harry flew over the towns the dread in his stomach grew. "I'm going to be too

late," he kept thinking.

He was about a mile from Hermione's house thinking maybe he would make it

after all when he saw the sight he was dreading. There was billowing smoke

coming from the heart of town… where Hermione lived. "No! I'm too late!" he screamed. He

scanned the ground for anything that could hide his landing. His eyes fell on a small grove of

trees two blocks from Hermione's house. Harry quickly went into a steep dive and pulled up a

foot from the ground. He didn't even bother to hide his broom. The second he touched ground

he took off toward his friend's house.

"Please let her be alive, please!" he prayed as he rounded the corner and saw her once beautiful

house up in smoke. "Hermione! Where are you?" he screamed as he ran out back. The smoke

was starting to make the air thick. He knew he had to hurry if he wanted to find her alive.

"Hermione!" finally he spotted her, or rather hoped he had. There was a heap on the ground that

seemed to moving up and down eratically. He ran to it and found out it was Hermione. The

reason she was moving so much was she was hyperventilating.

"My… my par…parents…they….they're…d…dead!!"she sobbed.

"Hermione, come on. We need to get out of here." He tried to pull her to her feet, but she

seemed not to hear Harry.

"They're…dead."

Harry had never seen Hermione like this. Her eyes were wide and her face was sickly pale, and

tears were streaming down her face. "Hermione, please, there's nothing we can do here. Ron's

in trouble. We need to go." She seemed to come back when she heard that Ron was in trouble.

She looked up at Harry and nodded, still shaking a little.

She tried to stand, but immediately fell back down. Harry bent over and put one hand behind

her back and one under her knees. He then picked her up like she was a rag doll. She clung to

him like her life depended on it. He hugged her to him and proceeded to run back to the trees

where he left his broom.

When they got there he knew there was no way Hermione could ride in the state she was in, so

he placed her carefully on the ground and mounted his broom. He then picked her up again and

cradled her to him once more. "It's gonna be alright," he murmured in her ear. She replied by

hugging him tighter and burying her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head and kicked

off from the ground. As they soared through the air, Harry dreaded more and more what he'd

find at the Weasley's.

………………………………………………………………………………..

It was a long journey from Hermione's place to Ron's, and with Hermione as added weight,

Harry was getting nervous. "Come on, Ron, put up a fight," Harry thought to himself.

When they finally reached Ron's house the sky was starting to turn pink. Harry touched down

on the lawn out front and was trying to figure out what Lestrange had done when the front door

flew open and Ron came flying out. The rest of the Weasley's weren't far behind.

"Harry! Is she ok?" Ron looked at the bundle in Harry's arms and his face paled.

All Harry could do was gape at Ron. Nothing was wrong. The house was fine, and all the

Weasley's looked disheveled, but otherwise okay. He was expecting to find a catastrophe like

he had at Hermione's, but there was absolutely nothing wrong here.

Ron shook Harry from his thoughts with his urgent voice. "Harry! Is she alright?"

Harry looked down at the heap in his arms to find Hermione was sleeping. Ron must have

thought the worst because he let out a cry and ran to Harry's side.

"Noo!" he cried.

"It's alright, Ron. She's not dead. She's asleep." Harry put a hand on Ron's back.

Ron reached out swept the both of them, along with the broomstick, into a huge bear hug.

Hermione woke up with this and let out a cry. She looked up at Harry and he felt a sudden pang

of sympathy. He knew she was waiting for him to tell her she had just woken up from a bad

dream, and for a minute he wanted to tell her that. He didn't want to crush her with the truth.

Ron looked back and forth between the two of them until realization dawned. He gave

Hermione a kiss on the forehead and Harry a clap on the back. "We'll talk later, mate," he said

to Harry.

Harry nodded and looked back to Hermione. "We need to talk," he looked at her and felt like

he was going to cry. He dismounted his broom, still holding her. He wasn't going to put her

down, either. She needed support right now, both physical and emotional. He walked her a little

way into some woods around the back of the house.

"Mione, everything's going to be okay. Just know that before I tell you what happened." He

looked at her and she nodded.

He then proceeded to tell her everything, starting with Lestrange coming into his house, and

ending with them flying away from Hermione's house. At the end she was crying again, but it

was a softer cry than last time. She seemed to be accepting what happened. Harry knew it

would take a lot longer than a few minute for her to be okay, but this was a good start. He was

awed by her strength. He knew if he had just been told his parents were killed by a deatheater,

he would have either broken down completely or be in a blinding rage destroying everything.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Hermione's small voice, "Thank you, Harry," she said.

"For what?" Harry was confused. He was expecting her to be mad at him, not grateful. From the

way he saw it, everything was his fault. "If you didn't know me, Mione, none of this would have

happened. They came after you because of me."

"You're right about one thing," she said with a small smile. "If it weren't for you none of this

would have happened, because I would have been dead a hundred times over. You've saved

me so many times, Harry. I'll never be able to thank you. This was one thing not even you could

have stopped." She looked up at him, her eyes gleaming.

Harry looked down at her, still in his arms. "You are the most amazing person I have ever met,

Hermione Granger." With that he bent down and kissed her.

At first he was afraid he had gone too far, but a second later she kissed him back. This was the

happiest he had ever been in his life. They stayed there together for a few minutes before

Hermione looked back at the Weasley's house. "We should probably be getting back there."

She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, again."

He smiled back at her and put her down. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. Don't hide

your feelings." He said the last part with a pang of guilt. Now he knew what it was like for her

and Ron when Sirius had died.

"Don't worry," was all she said before they started walking back to the house.

When they reached the edge of the woods Harry turned to Hermione and gave her a quick peck

on the lips. "If you don't want to talk about this you can go lie down, and I can explain

everything."

"Thanks, Harry, but I think I'm alright. You'll have to explain most of it anyway, but I'll stay

down with you guys while you talk." A little quieter she added, "and I really don't want to be

alone right now."

Harry enveloped her in a huge hug, "Don't worry about that. I'm sure once the Weasley's see

you, you'll never get a moments rest."

They laughed lightly and walked into the house. The second they walked through the door, all

the Weasley's came running into the kitchen to greet them. Harry settled onto a chair at the table

with Hermione right next to him. Under the table he found Hermione's hand and squeezed it

reassuringly. He then told the Weasley's everything that had happened throughout the long

night.


	4. CHapter 3: The Burrow

AN: Sorry it took so long for the update...I was a little discouraged from the lack of reviews :

( So please review after this chapter...it'll help me get the next update out sooner.

Chapter 3

The Burrow

After Harry and Hermione had finished telling the Weasley's everything that had happened, Mrs.

Weasley told everyone but Hermione to go to bed. When they had she took Hermione and led

her to the small living room.

"Honey, I know you're going through a rough time right now," Mrs. Weasley started, "I want

you to know you can come to me any time you want to talk. Okay?"

Hermione nodded in response.

"Good, now you need to get some sleep. You've been through a lot. I'll set you up on the

couch down here for now, and then for tonight I'll set up a bed in Ginny's room." As Mrs.

Weasley started set up the couch Hermione stood up.

"Mrs. Weasley, do you mind if I sleep in Ron's room with him and Harry tonight? I really don't

want to be alone right, and those two are so close to me. I feel like I need to be with them right

now."

By the time she was finished, Mrs. Weasley was crying. "Of course, dear, I should have thought

of that myself."

So she walked up the stairs with Hermione and knocked on the door.

"Whaddya want?" Ron asked rather rudely.

"Ronald Weasley, you open this door this instant!" his mother screamed, earning some groans

from the other rooms.

The door opened immediately and Ron was standing sheepishly in the hall. "Sorry, Mum. I

thought you were Ginny. She's been coming in every five minutes asking if I think it's alright to

go to sleep now."

At this Hermione looked confused, and she was about to ask a question when a look from Ron

silenced her.

"Alright, well Hermione wants to sleep in here tonight, so make sure you clear some space up."

Mrs. Weasley told him. Her eyes darted to Harry who was sitting on his bed, looking a little

disturbed. "Are you alright, Harry?"

He jumped as he heard his name, "Wha-, oh, yeah, I'm fine. Goodnight Mrs. Weasley," he still

looked upset about something, but managed a small smile.

Mrs. Weasley nodded and left the room. As soon as she disappeared around the corner

Hermione asked, "Why did Ginny want to know if it was alright to sleep?"

Ron immediately looked down at the floor, and Harry looked at the ceiling, each of them silently

asking the other to do the talking. When Harry finally gave in he beckoned Hermione to sit on

his bed. She walked over and silently sat down, with Ron joining on her other side.

"A lot happened tonight, Hermione," he started, choosing his words carefully,

"Lestrange came here expecting to do the same to the Weasleys' as she did to you." He

stopped when he heard her take in a sharp breath. Both he and Ron immediately grabbed her

into a huge hug. "It's alright, it's okay, we here, Hermione. We won't let anything happen to

you," Ron was saying soothingly to her. Harry just hugged her tighter.

"I know. I love you guys so much. I don't know what I would do without you." She said

through her tears. "Please, tell me what happened."

Harry looked at Ron who slowly nodded.

"Well, when she got here, she found something she wasn't expecting. Bill and Charlie were just

apparating in," he began, "She hadn't been expecting them, but I guess she figured she could

handle them. So, she started to shout a spell, but, I suppose she was a bit tired after everything

else, she missed and instead of hitting them, it swerved and hit the house. Everyone inside woke

up and rushed outside. They found Bill with his wand in position to attack, but not moving. The

reason was Charlie was on the ground in a full body bind in front of Lestrange. If Bill had

attacked, Charlie would have been hit, too." Harry stopped as Ron shuddered. Hermione,

thinking the worst, let out a whimper.

Ron looked over and hugged her again. "No, it's okay. Lestrange was busy watching Bill and

his wand, she never saw dad whisper the counter spell. Charlie kicked her ankles, and she fell to

the ground with the wind knocked out of her. Bill was about to put her in a body bind when she

apparated." He stopped and looked at Hermione, who had a strange look in her eyes. Instead

of asking her what was wrong, he finished by saying, "and that's why Ginny is upset. She's

afraid of Bill and Charlie, or any of us really, getting hurt, so she keeps coming in here asking if

we've heard anything strange. She's scaring herself."

By now, Ron had stopped talking again because he felt the bed shift. He looked over at Harry

who was tensed up. "What's wrong, mate?"

Harry nodded at Hermione. The look she had had was now intensified. Ron didn't understand,

but Harry did. He had worn the same look after he had found out about his parents and after

Sirius had died. When he had worn this look, it was Hermione who had helped him the most.

Now she needed him to help her the same way. He had thought, from the conversation in the

woods, that she was going to be okay, but it seemed that after hearing about Ron's family, she

was ready to do anything to get Lestrange.

His fears were confirmed when he felt Hermione start to get off the bed. Ron, still confused

looked from one to the other. He finally understood as Hermione started to walk towards

Harry's Firebolt. "Hermione, no!" They both yelled. She stopped, seemingly coming out of a

trance.

"I'm sorry guys. I'm okay, really. I just got a little...mad, I guess." She said looking down.

The boys were around her in a heartbeat.

"You need to sleep, Hermione. We'll figure something out later, but now, sleep." Ron said,

taking her and leading her to his bed. "You sleep on here tonight, I'll stay over here," he pointed

to a bunch of pillows and blankets in the corner. "You need a better sleep than I do right now."

She looked up at him thankfully and hugged him. Then she went over to Harry and hugged him,

too. "You two are the best. I love you guys, thank you for everything." And with that she lay

down on Ron's bed and fell into a fast sleep.

Before Harry and Ron went to sleep, however, they set up some old cans around Hermione's

bed so they would know if she woke up and started to walk around. They needed to make sure

she stayed in the room and off the warpath to Lestrange. Sharing one last worried glance, the

both fell silent, but neither of them slept.

AN: I know, it's a little short, but if you review, I'll try really hard to make the next chapter longer!!! Please review! I just want to know what you think of the story!!!


	5. Chapter 4: Mrs Weasley Knows Best

AN: Ok guys, I could really use some reviews here. PLEASE!!!! Even if you hate the story please just let me know how I could make it better. Any feedback would be awesome. I feel as if I'm writing to a brick wall!!

Chapter 3

They awoke the next morning to yellow envelopes on their faces.

"Hog-Hogwaaaarts letters are here," Ron said while failing to stifle a yawn.

"Nice observation, mate," Harry said with a note of sarcasm. He received a pillow to the head

and promptly fell off the bed. This awoke Hermione who looked at both boys and giggled.

"What?" they asked.

"You-you're hair, Ron. It's sticking straight up! You're starting to look like Harry!" she

dissolved into another fit of giggles and fell back to her pillow.

Both boys looked at each other and grinned. It was great to hear Hermione laugh. They nodded

at each other and jumped on her bed tickling her.

"Oy, Mione, what exactly is wrong with my hair sticking up?" Harry asked in a mock hurt voice.

"St-stop, I- I can't breathe!!" she laughed.

As Ron went to fix his hair, Harry looked at Hermione. "What do you wanna do today,

Mione?"

"Well since we've gotten our letters, I say we open them and then go to Diagon Alley," she

answered matter of factly.

Harry smacked a hand to his forehead, "I forgot all about the letters! Oy, Ron, get over here.

We're gonna open the letters!"

"Oh what fun!" Ron mocked.

All at once the three opened their letters and yelled their results. They laughed since no one had

understood anybody. Ron decided to go first.

"I got eight," he said with a sheepish grin, "Eight owls is way more than I thought I'd get."

"Ron, that's excellent!" Hermione squealed, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey! If he gets a peck for eight, what do I get for nine?" Harry asked mischievously.

Hermione blushed and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Get a room you two! Preferably not mine!" Ron laughed.

Hermione blushed deeper and trying to change the subject asked, "Well aren't you going to ask

what I got?"

"Uhhh, I'm guessing you completely choked and got zero," Ron said with an angelic face.

Ron was the one getting a pillow to the face this time.

"I got 12!" she beamed.

Both boys grinned at each other and stood up.

"What are you two-" but she got cut off by both boys bending down and kissing her on each

cheek at the same time. Then Ginny appeared at the door announcing breakfast.

Hermione said she needed to go to the bathroom first, so the boys started downstairs without

her. When they were about to walk around the corner, they heard Mrs. Weasley talking to the

rest of the family. "Ok, we are not going to mention one thing about what happened last night. Is

that clear? Hermione is the kind of girl who likes to handle things her own way. We are going to

let her come to us when she wants to. We will not push her to talk or anything, understood?"

There was a murmur of consent as Harry and Ron looked at each other. Mrs. Weasley seemed

to know Hermione pretty well.

As they were sitting down to eat, Hermione came down the stairs beaming. "This smells

absolutely delicious, Mrs. Weasley!"

Molly smiled and looked to her family with an "I told you," sort of look.

"We wanted to go to Diagon Alley today, Mum," Ron announced.

"Ok dear, you can floo there, but do be careful please," she answered.

No one spoke much after that. They were to busy filling themselves with Mrs. Weasley's great

cooking.

Then the post came in, including the Daily Prophet. There were a few audible gasps heard when

they saw the front page. There was a picture of Hermione's house in ruins. Hermione

determinedly took the paper and read the article. The Weasley's all looked at each other and

began to get up from the table. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were left. As she was finishing, a lone

tear make its way down her cheek. She wiped it away and smiled at Harry and Ron, "Ready to

go, guys?"

Whatever Harry and Ron had been expecting Hermione to say, that was not it.

"Mione, if you need some-"

"No, Harry, I'll deal with it, but I just want things to be as normal as possible right now."

This seemed to convince Ron, so he jumped up saying something about getting changed. With a

look of horror, Hermione remembered she had no clothes.

Harry seemed to be thinking along the same lines, so he hugged her to him and said, "Don't

worry about it, Hermione. We'll stop at a clothing store first, and you can borrow some of my

money if you want."

She returned the hug and said, "It's alright, Harry. Mum- Mum and Da- Dad had set up a

personal account for me at Gringotts incase...incase something...something like this ever...ever

happened," she looked tearfully at him.

"It's gonna be alright, Mione. I promise." He hugged her tighter.

She nodded and wiped her eyes. "I really just want everything to be normal, Harry. Please don't

think I'm cold-hearted, I just need to deal with it in time," she looked up at him.

"There is nothing you could ever do to make me think you're cold-hearted, Mione." He bent

down kissed her forehead.

Suddenly there was a crash and the sound of falling glass coming from Ron's room. Looking at

each other and remembering the rest of the Weasley's had all left to do their daily things, they

quickly pulled out their wands. They then hurried up the stairs, thinking only one thing: something

had happened to Ron.

AN: Alright, I've got the next ch. All ready to go. Please just send me anything and I'll put the chapter up right away. You can say anything, one words'll do too. "Nice, okay, horrible," anything, please just let me know what you're thinking!!!!


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